Knitting machine drive apparatus



A ril 29, 1969 L. MISH CON ETAL 3,440,837

\ KNITTING MACHINE DRIVE APPARATUS Filed July 5, 1967 Sheet of 2 Fig. I

INVENTOR. Lester Mlshcon and Donald W. Reagan A ril 29, 1969 L. MISHCONETAL 3,

KNITTING MACHINE DRIVE APPARATUS Filed July 1967 Sheet 2 Of 2 INVENTOR.Lester Mishcon and Donald W. Reagan ATTORNEY United States Patent O US.Cl. 66-28 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for driving thedial of a cylinder and dial circular knitting machine is disclosed asemploying an idler wheel on the machine cylinder and a driven wheel onthe machine dial, and between which wheels knitted fabric web is adaptedto pass. Such a technique assures good cylinder and dial registration;and to assure against fabric marking by the wheels, loading thereon isdisclosed as being relieved by auxiliary dial drive apparatus thatcontributes virtually all the torque necessary to drive the dial.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The invention relatestodrive mechanisms for cylinder and dial circular knitting machines, andin particular the invention is directed to the manner of transferringtorque applied to, say, the machine cylinder to the machine dial,whereby such cylinder and dial will be rotatable simultaneously and inunison.

Description of the prior art Known drive arrangements between thecylinder and dial of a circular knitting machine may be categorized intotwo types: those arranged entirely outside the tubular fabric web, andthose that lie between the cylinder and the dial, whereby torques aretransmitted through the fabric web. An outside dial drive involves theproblem of maintaining predetermined registration between the cylinderand dial stemming from the multiplicity of connections necessary to sucha drive, which multiple connections present accumulated tolerances thatare inherently subject to change, for instance, as the parts wear. Dialdrives that lie directly between the cylinder and the dial, and compriseinterengaging lugs or wheels between which fabric web is adapted topass, involve the possibility of marking such fabric web by means of thelugs or wheels. Since knitting machines are progressively becoming largein diameter, and are being provided with more complex needle actuatingand needle selecting mechanism, driving forces therefor of increasingmagnitude are being required. Dial drives directly between the cylinderand the dial which were satisfactory with prior art knitting machinesare generally not able to function without serious fabric markingproblems in modern knitting machines.

United States Patent No. 3,222,889, filed in the name of Lester Mischconand assigned to the present assignee, is directed to a dial drive ofthis latter type, and indicates a technique for preventing fabricmarking even though torques are transmitted from the cylinder of amachine to its dial by way of the cloth web formed therebetween. Thatis, by employing interengaging wheels, one on the dial and one on thecylinder, between which wheels the fabric web is adapted to pass, andthrough which fabric web driving torques may be applied, the marking ofthe fabric web by the wheels may be eliminated by positively drivingsuch wheels, say, by means of the takeup drive of the machine. By sodriving the wheels, the fabric web is not pulled between thewheels-causing fabric markingbut rather is positively fed between thewheels; and this oc- 3,440,837 Patented Apr. 29, 1969 curs during thetime that such wheels transmit the torques necessary to drive the dial.

The apparatus of United States Patent No. 3,222,889 has worked well formost fabrics. Still, however, some fabric marking occurs when knitting,for example, with yarns such as acetates. Such fabric marking results,not from the actual feeding of the fabric between the torquetransmitting wheels, but rather from the crushing pressure of the wheelsagainst the fabric being so fed.

Summary of the invention Apparatus according to the invention is ahybrid of the abovementioned two types of dial drives, utilizing toadvantage the desirable properties of both types of dial drives, butavoiding their respective disadvantages. The torque necessary to drivethe dial, when practicing the herein disclosed invention, isproportionately shared between a drive outside the tubular web beingknit, and drive wheels between which the knitted web is adapted to pass.The greater contribution of torque is provided by the outside drive,thereby relieving the pressure on the fabric processed between thewheels; and light torque producing contact between the web and wheels,is maintained to assure predetermined cylinder and dial registrationrecognized as necessary to proper operation of the knitting machine inquestion.

A principal object of the invention is to provide improved driveapparatus for use in a cylinder and dial circular knitting machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide drive apparatus for acylinder and dial circular knitting machine that not only intrinsicallyassures against cylinder and dial misregistration but works to precludefabric marking as caused by such drive apparatus.

Another object of the invention is to provide drive apparatus for acylinder and dial circular knitting machine that hybridly combines anoutside-type dial drive with one that transmits dial drive torquesthrough a knitted web.

The invention will be described with reference to the figures whereinFIG. 1 is an elevational view, partly in section and cutaway, indicatingone species of the dial drive incorporating the invention,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a preferred wheel drive, and which wheeldrive forms part of the apparatus of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a plan view of preferred dial drive apparatus for use inpracticing the invention,

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the dial drive of FIG. 3, taken along line33 thereof, and

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view indicating the dial drive apparatus ofFIGS. 3 and 4, and generally showing its installation on a circularknitting machine.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the leg 10 of a circular knittingmachine includes a journal bearing 12 that supports a drive shaft 14 forrotation. The leg 10 supports an annular frame 16 which, in turn,supports a bed plate 18. The drive shaft 14 is provided with a bevelgear 20 that meshes with a ring gear 22 forming part of a cylinder ring24, such cylinder ring being rotatably seated atop the bed plate 18.Rotation of the drive shaft 14 totates the cylinder ring 24, and with itthe needle cylinder 26 of the machine, which needle cylinder 26 issecured to the cylinder ring 24 by means not shown.

The cylinder ring 24 is provided with an annular recess 28 foraccommodating a cam ring 30. The cam ring 30 is held in place in theusual way by means not shown, the cylinder ring 24 being rotatablerelative thereto; and supported atop, and secured to, the cam ring 30are cam sections 32. The carn sections 32 are provided with cams 34 thatengage the butts of the cylinder needles 36 mounted within the slots ofthe cylinder 26; and rotating the 3 needle cylinder 26 by means of thedrive shaft 14 has the effect of raising and lowering the cylinderneedles 36 as they encounter the cams 34 with which they are relativelyrotatable.

The drive shaft 14 is provided with a second bevel gear 38 securedthereto, and engaging with the gear 38 is a gear 40. The gear 40 securesto a shaft 42 which is rotatably supported in a sleeve bearing 44 thatmounts atop a brace 46 that is held stationary with respect to theneedle cylinder 26. The shaft 42 is provided with a second bevel gear 48that drives a bevel gear 50 supported on a shaft 49 in a sleeve bearing52; the bearing 52 is supported by the sleeve bearing 44. Rotation ofthe drive shaft 14 effects, via the gear combinations 38, 40 and 48, 50,rotation of a worm gear 54 which turns a pulley 56 fastened to a shortshaft 58. The shaft 58 is supported in a bearing forming part of a brace60; and the shaft 58 is secured to a worm wheel 62. The brace 60 is oneof several, each being supported on a post 64; and the braces togethersecure to and mount a dial cam ring 66. The dial cam ring 66 is providedwith a cylindrical opening 68 that serves as a journal bearing for adial drive shaft 70. The dial drive shaft 70 is provided at one end witha pulley 72 which is driven by means of a spring 74 interconnecting thepulleys 56 and 72; and secured to the shaft 70 at its other end is thedial 76 of the machine. The dial 76 mounts a bed 78 of dial needles 80,which needles are positionable by means of cams 82 on dial cam sections84 secured by means, not shown, to the dial ring 66.

An idler wheel 90 (see in particular FIG. 2) mounts for rotation on astub shaft 92 to the cylinder ring 24, and engages a driven knurledwheel 94. The wheels 90, 94 provide fractional torques from the cylinder26 to the dial 76, and are adapted to have cloth 96 pass therebetween.The knurled wheel 94 secures to a shaft 98 which is supported in amandrel 100 in sprags; similarly the shaft 98 mounts a crank 102 whichcouples to the shaft 98 by means of a sprag 105. The crank 102 is springbiased upwardly by means of a spring 104, and the crank is provided witha rod-like cam follower 106 housed within a sleeve 108. The entire crankassembly secures to the dial 76 and rotates with the dial in unison withrotation of the cylinder 26. The sprags that support the shaft 98, andthe sprag 105, are adapted to provide unidirectional rotation of thecloth feed wheel 94, and so too of the idler wheel 90. Periodicdepression of the follower-rod 106, by means of a cam 110 secured to theunderside of the dial cam ring 66, as the dial 76 rotates with respectto the dial cam ring 66 effects periodic rotation of the wheels 90, 94,and thereby incremental feeding of the cloth 96. Such a technique hasproved as effective as the continuous wheel drive of United StatesPatent No. 3,222,889, but is obviously less extensive and simpler inconstruction.

As abovestated, the torque necessary to drive the dial 76 derives fromtwo sources, viz. the outside coupling including the parts 42, 50, 49,54, 62, 74, 70; and the coupling including the parts 92, 90, 94. Theoutside coupling provides almost all the torque necessary to drive thedial 76 and, were the wheels 90, 92 to be removed from the machine ofFIG. 1, the spring 74 would continually slip on its pulleys 56, 72(whereby the dial would misregister with respect to the cylinder 26) asthe outside coupling endeavored to drive the dial 76 in unison with thecylinder 26. With the incrementally driven wheels 90, 94 interconnectingthe cylinder and dial via the cloth web 96, however, misregistration ofthe cylinder and dial is prevented by the wheels 90, 94, which coact tocontribute that fractional amount of torque necessary to prevent thespring 74 from slipping on its pulleys. Thus, not only are the wheels90, 94 driven to prevent fabric marking, while maintaining properregistration of the cylinder 26 and the dial 76, but so too the crushingeffect of the wheels 90, 94 against the cloth 96 is alleviated by meansof the outside coupling which takes the loading off the wheels 90, 94.

While the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2 is sufiicient for the purposes ofthe invention, a preferred species thereof is depicted in FIGS. 3-5,which preference is based not only on the compactness of such species,but also because wear of certain parts of the species of FIGS. 1 and 2,especially the spring 74, is eliminated.

With reference then to FIGS. 3-5, the preferred species may besubstituted for the spring-pulley combination of FIGS. 1, 2 as follows:the pair of gears 48, 50 are replaced by a sprocket and chain 124assembly; and the chain 124 couples to a spring-biased hub 126 securedto the dial drive shaft 70 instead of the pulley 72. The hub 126comprises an inner member 128 and an outer member 130 coaxial therewith.The outer member 130 is directly driven by the chain 124; and the innermember directly secures to the dial drive shaft 70. Interconnecting theinner member 128 with the outer member of the hub 126 are levers 132,each of which pivotally secures to the inner member 128 in a slot 134 bymeans of a screw 136, and projects from its slot 134 into a radial notch138 in the outer member 130. Each lever 132 may be biased, against arespective wear plate 140 secured within a respective notch 138, bymeans of a spring 142 the bias of which may be adjusted by an adjustmentscrew 144.

In practicing the invention with the species of FIGS. 3-5, the hub 126is placed on the dial drive shaft 70 of the machine with the tension ofthe springs 142 initially set as low as possible. The chain 124 is thenset in place to hold the outer hub member 130 against turning; andthereafter the tension of the springs 142 is gradually increased. At thepoint at which the springs 142, acting through the levers 132 againstthe wear plates 140 of the firmly held outer member 130, are justsufiiciently compressed to start to turn the inner hub member 128- andthe dial 76-adjustment of the spring bias is stopped. Now, rotation ofthe outer hub member 130 by means of the chain 124 in the direction ofthe arrow on FIG. 3, causes the wear plate 140 to push against thelevers 132 which in turn push against the springs 142 which cannotcompress further (because of the registration assuring wheels 90, 94).The inner hub part 128 rotates the shaft 70, and the dial 76 therewith,with the torque necessary for such rotation being contributed mostly bythe chain 124-hub 126 drive, and the remaining slight (but registrationassuring) torque being contributed by the drive wheels 90, 94.

Whether with the species of FIGS. 1 and 2, or with the species of FIGS.3-5, marking of the fabric by virtue of such fabric being pulled betweencoacting respective parts on the cylinder and dial is prevented by useof driven wheels between which such fabric is adapted to pass; and 1ntheir presently preferred simply constructed form, such wheel drive isperiodically and incrementally effected: Fabric marking by virtue ofexcessive pressure being applied against the fabric by the Wheels iseliminated by relieving the loading on the wheels through use of anauxiliary outside dial drive that contributes the greater part of thedial drive torque, leaving however the wheels to contribute justsufiicient torque to assure the desired cylinder and dial registration.

While the invention has been described in its preferred form it is to beunderstood that the words which have been used are words of descriptionrather than of limitation and that changes within the purview of theappended claims may be made without departing from the true scope andspirit of the invention.

Having thus set forth the nature of this is claimed herein is:

1. In a circular knitting machine of the type having a cylinder needlebed 26 and a dial needle bed 76, which needle beds are adapted to formcloth therebetween by interaction of their respective needles, and means20 for rotatably driving one of said beds, improved apparatus invention,what for transferring the rotary motion of said one bed to the other ofsaid beds comprising:

(a) first means 90 on said one bed,

(b) second means 94 on said other bed in advance of said first means inthe direction of rotation of said beds, said second means being adaptedto be cooperative with said first means through said cloth formedbetween said beds, and

(c) third means 42, 49, 58, 74, 70 drivingly coupling said r'neans 20for rotatably driving one of said needle beds to said other needle bed,

whereby the torque for rotatably driving said other bed isproportionately applied by said first and second means in combination,and by said third means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said third means is provided withmeans 74 or 142 for yieldingly coupling said means 20 for rotatablydriving one of said needle beds to said other needle bed.

3. Theapparatus of claim 2 wherein either said first or said secondmeans is a Wheel, and wherein said apparatus includes means for drivingsaid wheel in accordance with the rotation of said needle beds.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said means for yieldingly couplingsaid drive and bed comprises first 128 and second 130 coaxial partsjatleast one lever 132 pivotally supported on one of said parts and adaptedto engage a piece 140 on the other of said parts 130, and resilientmeans 142 for pressing said lever 132 against said piece 140 of saidother part, one of said coaxial parts being coupled to said other bed,and the other of said parts being adapted for rotation by the drive forsaid one needle bed.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein either said first or said secondmeans is a wheel, and wherein said apparatus includes means for drivingsaid wheel in accordance with the rotation of said needle beds.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein either said first or said secondmeans is a wheel, and wherein said apparatus includes means forincrementally driving said wheel in accordance with the rotation of saidneedle beds.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said means for incrementally drivingsaid wheel includes actuable means 106 rotatable with one of said needlebeds and means discretely fixedly positioned relative to said needlebeds and cooperable with said actuable means, said actuable means 106being coupled to said wheel to rotate said wheel each time said meansdiscretely positioned cooperates with said actuable means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS l/l898 Sturgess 6628 XR 12/1965Mishcon 6628 U.S. Cl. X.R. 66-19

